For activists, sustaining momentum within the struggle for social change typically results in downplaying the victories they’ve attained. Acknowledging progress can really feel like permission to ease up on the wrestle.
However that’s no purpose to not have a good time the ocean change that’s swept throughout the jazz scene in relation to ladies instrumentalists. Recognizing the successes of feminine gamers isn’t solely about acknowledging actuality. It’ll doubtless result in extra alternatives.
The generations of girls who paved the way in which for the thriving Twenty first-century scene deserve the lioness’s share of the credit score. One other elementary issue is the enlargement of the pipeline from center and highschool jazz applications to universities and conservatories through initiatives just like the 14th annual JazzGirls Day, a free Berkeley Excessive Faculty occasion on March 8 open to all 10- to 14-year-old ladies. Trombonist Sarah Cline, co-director of the BHS jazz program, created JazzGirls Day, and he or she leads an analogous occasion for the Stanford Jazz Workshop at Dinkelspiel Auditorium on March 22.
Whether or not or not there’s an official presidential proclamation this 12 months declaring March as Girls’s Historical past Month, spring’s method finds Bay Space bandstands brimming with stellar feminine improvisers. At Mr. Tipple’s in San Francisco, virtually your entire month’s calendar is dedicated to ladies bandleaders. What may as soon as be solid as tokenism is now merely a mirrored image of the cutting-edge. There are far too many tantalizing gigs on faucet to say all of them however these are some exhibits I’m significantly enthusiastic about.
Akili Bradley: Raised in Seaside and nurtured by Monterey Jazz Pageant instructional applications, New York Metropolis trumpeter Akili Bradley made an especially spectacular look on the MJF final summer time because the fourth wheel for pianist Jason Moran’s Bandwagon. She’s the featured participant once more throughout a four-night, eight-show Black Cat run led by British pianist Wilfie Williams, a rising pressure in New York.
Particulars: Feb. 27-March 2 at Black Cat in San Francisco; $25.50-$65.50; www.blackcatsf.com
Naomi Moon Siegel: The Missoula, Montana,-based trombonist and composer, an Oakland resident within the mid-aughts, returns to the Bay Space for a sequence of gigs celebrating the discharge of her new Allison Miller-produced album, “Shatter the Glass Sanctuary” with a quartet that includes Barcelona-born pianist Marina Albero and San Francisco-reared New York bassist Jayla Chee.
Particulars: The group performs on the Palo Alto Arts Heart Feb. 27; San Francisco’s Stow Lake Boathouse Feb. 28); Mr. Tipple’s on March 1 and at Wyldflowr Arts in West Oakland on March 2 (discover particulars for the exhibits on naomimoonsiegel.com).
Brandee Youthful: Her four-night residency on the SFJAZZ Heart options the harp star and vocalist enjoying new compositions with the 19-piece New Century Chamber Orchestra, March 6-9 (www.sfjazz.org). She’s again within the Bay Space for live shows along with her trio on the SJZ Break Room March March 27 (sanjosejazz.org) and Kuumbwa Jazz March 28 (www.kuumbwajazz.org). On April 3, she’s at Bing Live performance Corridor for a Stanford Reside co-commission collaboration “Strings of Hope: A Song For Tomorrow” (reside.stanford.edu) with groundbreaking Gambian griot Sona Jobarteh (who performs her personal gigs at Kuumbwa April 1 and Herbst Theatre April 4).
Tiptons Sax Quartet: The feminine-centric Seattle ensemble with a three-decade historical past of melding jazz, funk, Balkan and different worldwide idioms, makes a uncommon Bay Space foray, enjoying the Dharma Collective in San Francisco March 13 (sfdharmacollective.org) and the Again Room in Berkeley March 15 (backroommusic.com). The potent, longstanding entrance line options Jessica Lurie (soprano, alto, and tenor sax), Amy Denio (alto sax and clarinet), Sue Orfield (tenor sax), and Tina Richerson (baritone sax), with all the ladies contributing vocals.
Alexandra Ridout: The rising British trumpeter performs a sequence of gigs across the area, working as a side-woman with San Francisco-raised New York guitarist Gabriel Schillinger-Hyman at Oakland’s Piedmont Piano Firm March 8 (piedmontpiano.com) and main a trio at Maykadeh restaurant’s Persian Room in San Francisco March 11 with Gabriel and his brother, bassist Eytan Schillinger-Hyman. She’s with the Gabriel Schillinger-Hyman Quartet at Osher Marin JCC March 12 for this system Invisible Jazz Giants, and performs duo with Gabriel at Station Home Café in Pt. Reyes March 13.
Particulars: Extra info is at alexandraridoutmusic.squarespace.com.
Sundra Manning: A vital artistic pressure on the Bay Space music scene for the reason that Nineteen Nineties, the supremely soulful Oakland organist pays tribute to the late Hammond B3 organ nice Shirley Scott on the SFJAZZ Joe Henderson Lab on March 21 with powerhouse tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley, bassist Steve Hogan, Implausible Negrito drummer James Small and a shock vocalist. Manning can pay props to Shirley Scott once more on March 22 when she joins saxophonist Kasey Knudsen, an equally eloquent improviser on alto and tenor, and her quintet for a household matinee that features trombonist Natalie Cressman. Knudsen’s Quintet additionally performs March 29 at Mr. Tipple’s.
Particulars: 7 and eight:30 p.m. March 21 at SFJAZZ; $25; 11 a.m. Saturday March 22 at SFJAZZ; $18-$25; www.sfjazz.org.
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com
